Gold Hosts Q and A

AM3R1CAN MUSCLE

AM3R1CAN MUSCLE

Master
Jan 9, 2013
134
37
238
Hi NinetysBorn ! I've been hosting Halo custom games online for 5 years since Halo 2. I've been more of a relaxed player during this time, which is the reason I don't play matchmaking/war games. So, I've enjoyed researching and presenting the most fun casual custom game maps for everyone. Only recently have I decided to reach out to the Halo community and find a lot of other people who enjoy customs as well. First I commented on the most popular youtube channel videos in the comments section advertising my game lobby. Secondly I joined this site. It was that easy! :) As a result, in 4 months I've made 400+ friends. And my list of gamertags just keeps growing! What made me successful in having people wanting to come back is I've learned throughout the years that a variety of gametypes is key. Also, offering to showcase other people's maps makes them happy. Lastly, after every game I always ask people what they would like to play next, instead of acting like a selfish dictator and only choosing the maps that I want to play. I always keep a friendly atmosphere in my lobbies. Anyway, I hope this helps you! :)
 
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Charles Stoot

Charles Stoot

Master
Jan 13, 2013
1,434
646
324
30
Maine
www.youtube.com
NinetysBorn said:
Charles Stoot, I see that you are very much familiar to the great importance of rules in a fun game night. How did you go about deciding your lobby's rules? What are some of your most important rules and why? Are there any rules, that you think, a host must include in his lobbies?
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First of all I am honored that you think I am a great host. To answer your first question: How did I go about deciding my lobbies rules. I basically started off with the basics what I wanted and what my Lobbies always asked for that earthier got on my nerves or those of the people in the lobby. For example I would always have trouble ganging back my post as Leader once it was handed out. Another example is people would ask others to quite down for being to loud, some times it was because they where a squeaker other times it was them doing it on purpose. But what I noticed was that people didn't mind it if every once in a while they would yell into the mike because something epic or awesome had happened. Well me next step was to stop trolling. no one likes a some one who troll's and that all I have to say about it. Next I had to make sure that every one who signed up for my lobbies had a chance to get in, But I had to make sure that if my lobby was struggling that there was a reason to still stand my post but allow people in the lobby to invite those friends in circumstances. And the rest i needed to make sure that the lobby would stay fun for a long time.​
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To answer your second question I like to refer to what gets on your nerves the most in a custom lobby, what does a person do in a custom game the just crawls under skin and rips it off. Ya I know that was a weird orgy by you know what I mean. I think for me my most important rule is to just have fun, if you are having fun without bringing every one down then you are doing a great job, because every one will just get along and have a great time. If you just are so motivated to bring every ones spirits down I may ask you to leave because that just makes the lobby co-laps if that person demotivates every one else.​
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This third question stocked me due to the fact that if depends upon what type of lobby you run. It is up to you to decide that. Recently I had the actions of every one requesting to play a map in my custom lobby, it was so hectic that I had to change one of my rules around. Now if you win you get to pick next map, or if you make a great impact on the custom game in that game you get to pick next map. A wise person once said to start your lobbies of with awesome thing so that the people in your lobbies would want more and end it with the worse things. Well I always start my lobbies off with blaze cave, a map I made for any size lobbies. I pick this starting Mini game because it brakes the ice for the new people in my lobby and welcomes them to it. Rather than bringing them right into a slayer or team base game where they may not get along with the other player. My advise if it is your most important rule put it first on your rules list. So that when in game you can refer to it more off tin in game as "what is the first Rule". Also when you have a long list of rules Like I do people are more apt to read so far then stop. As well as putting them in this order I make sure that for each rule I make a title. So that like me I can just skim over the title and get the general basics of how the custom game is run. So this is why I put the important ones first then so on and so forth.​
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I hope I helped you with your questions and feel free to ask any time. I check this web site several times a day so shoot me questions any time.​
Yours Truly,​
Charles J. Stoot​
"Its Luck that you Failed"​
 
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Spades N AZ

Spades N AZ

Master
Jan 30, 2013
223
1,312
145
Arizona
NinetysBorn said:
Spades N AZ, in your lobbies you play some of the best maps from the Halo community! Most of them have never even been seen before. My question to you Spadez is, how do you go about getting such maps? Is there a specific routine you like to follow when looking for new awesome maps?
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I usually don't have to search for these maps or go to youtube channels. The map makers are usually on my friends list. I rely on those who are leaders in the forge world of custom games and use their awesomeness. In return, they know that their map will get lots of attention because not only will I use it for game night, but I will also give it to someone to showcase or record as a video. It's a win win situation. I get the best maps first and they get lots of downloads and views. My friends list contains the best of the best forgers in the Halo community but I haven't met that guy yet.:eek: I have tried to have people submit maps to me but 9/10 are not quality.
 
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Charles Stoot

Charles Stoot

Master
Jan 13, 2013
1,434
646
324
30
Maine
www.youtube.com
Spades N AZ said:
I usually don't have to search for these maps or go to youtube channels. The map makers are usually on my friends list. I rely on those who are leaders in the forge world of custom games and use their awesomeness. In return, they know that their map will get lots of attention because not only will I use it for game night, but I will also give it to someone to showcase or record as a video. It's a win win situation. I get the best maps first and they get lots of downloads and views. My friends list contains the best of the best forgers in the Halo community but I haven't met that guy yet.:eek: I have tried to have people submit maps to me but 9/10 are not quality.
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Like Blaze Cave!
 
RageBrownie

RageBrownie

Proficient
Jan 11, 2013
37
11
26
25
I'm not a gold host but people seem to like me (since i somehow manage to fill up my lobbies) but here's a piece of advice for completely new hosts: get your xbox live friends to rsvp for your lobbies that way your lobby thread won't look empty. It'll be more attractive to people because no one wants to join a lobby if it looks like nobody will join it. ;)
 
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iSpiteful

iSpiteful

Distinguished
Feb 1, 2013
495
233
98
28
I was the first but i wasn't the fastest ^^, but in terms of getting a popular lobby i would advise a well planned lobby post. Not just "Come to my lobby we are playing fun games" something like "Hey guys!, welcome to my post" Introducing yourself as a host is important but what attracts players is the look of an eye-catchy post. Dont get yourself worked up on posts though, i conducted a mini test of my own. In order to achieve a fair chance for people to join i put in my post the fact you have to Join session in progress in order to get in my game at the official start. Now this served various purposes:
  • It allowed me to not have to worry about inviting certain people before others and feeling bad.
  • I felt that if i invited certain people i could be biased towards friends because i know they are a more trustworthy option because i have no idea who the other person is. Making people join session defeats this and its all about first come first serve then. Giving all people an equal chance to get into my lobby.
  • It allows me to see who the commited lobby players are. The committed players will have to read the post fully and will know they have to join session. The people who do not even read the post fully will send me a message for an invite. To conclude this i will allow 5 minutes prior time of joining session and then if there are spaces remaining (usually unlikely) i will invite the people who had sent me a message asking for an invite. This means that people who are dedicated and took the time to read the post i put a lot of effort into then stand more chance of getting in so long as they are ready to join session in progress precisely on the starting time of the lobby. The next points are also things you need to think about
  • Just as an added point take into consideration the lobby itself. Is it an enjoyable experiance for all players? Give warnings before you are forced to kick people. You don't want to give yourself a negative view in front of everybody in the lobby. Do not shout at players intimidating them, don't consider yourself to be above other players just because you are the "host". Your players are not forced to stay in your lobby, they could all go set up there own lobby if they desired! ^^.
  • The reason behind my lobbies success i beleive comes down to the fact that i gave good impressions to my players and that therefore resulted in them coming back to more lobbies and allowed me to keep a consistent amount of players. Just because you aren't getting new players 24/7 is not something that should bother you. As long as you have a full lobby then that is the real success.
  • People are suckers for YouTube :p. If you have any sort of relation between your lobbies and YouTube people are more attracted to it. For example i do games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday now and combine all the best moments from the three days into a montage episode. People love being able to relive the awesome moments that happened in the lobby and also love to see themselves and hear themselves in the game ^.^!
  • To summarise, Ratings are important. Ratings allow you to see if you are doing your lobbies correctly and also generates feedback. (does not apply to trolls that double downrate)
  • Remind people at the end of the lobby to rate but dont give leading questions like "can you please rate my good lobby" or "this lobby is awesome rate me please?". Say something like "If you guys could rate my lobby and give me some feedback that would be great" and you should be fine in getting a few ratings. Remember negative ratings are not the end of the world!!! Take the criticism constructively.
  • Finally i came up with the idea of a Vip system, effectively what it means is that the first 4 people to rate my lobby good or bad will achieve a VIP pass into my next lobby. Vip means i will invite you early and secure you a place.
  • Hope this helps :)
 
SOLIDSNAKEee

SOLIDSNAKEee

Salad Snack
Jan 26, 2013
1,216
828
312
Ireland
rayner said:
Not sure whether or not this question has been asked (I was lazy to read through 3 pages of Q&A), how do you get lobbies full if you don't have many friends that play halo and live in a very different timezone from most halo players?
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If you want to try and get a full lobby it's best that you start out by joining other lobbies here on the site. From there you can make friends and make abit of a name for yourself with the end goal allowing you to have a fairly large turn out. On top of this a lobby banner of sorts would help as well as making a nice, medium sized write up (make sure it's not overly colourful/overly boring!). Write up's tend to show whether or not the host is worth joining.
 
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